So, once again, how's about we dispense with the gratuitous political and religious insults at least in this thread?
A good idea, Sardondi. Inasmuch as you were agreeing with MV's response to something I wrote above, it might have gotten lost that my "Tea Party" line was itself a reaction to what I thought was an out-of-place, "gratuitous," and entirely provocative political injection, from Ruteger in post #12634 above. Is that post "gratuitous" too? Please note the last line of my post, #12635. Is that sentiment familiar?
It's funny though how only my attempt at a response seemed to get under some skins. Of course I was "speaking for myself," MV. The logical inference from your reaction is that Ruteger's post was speaking for you. That's fine. But surely you don't mean to suggest that
everyone should accede to the gratuitous politics of his post as Received Orthodoxy. Right? So I didn't, and I simply made that known just like you did toward me. I'll bet you'd agree that that's fair.
Sardondi, help me out here: when you say "it almost always goes just one way," which half of the little 2-party exchange I just cited is the "one way" you find dominating the discourse around here? The "way" reflected in the original provocative post, or the "way" reflected in the response?
A person might get the crazy idea that ideological expressions in here only become objectionable and "gratuitous" if a particular side fires
back. But surely it's not that.
Believe me, I'm totally happy to keep politics out of this thread. Now you men get everyone to cooperate. Because I'm firmly of the opinion that gratuitous provocation --a stick jab to the eye, Sardondi-- always deserves a little comeback.